Soaking British Stamps

You've probably talked about this many times before, but I've got a ton of British stamps to send to Boston '26 (give aways to the customers/registrants), and they are on paper. I need them off paper before mailing them to Boston. Is there a Scott number beyond which they should not be water soaked?

Many thanks in advance.
Tony (frograil)

Basically, all surface printed stamps of the reigns of Queen Victoria from 1881 onwards and Edward VII with green and lilac (purple) printing should be handled with utmost care.

The modern self-adhesives are difficult to soak. They are best clipped equally around the stamp.

Thanks for the post, NSK. What I'm trying to determine is whether there is a "bright line" beyond which one should not water-soak "modern" stamps.

The problem is with self-adhesives that have a gum that is not soluble in water. Definitive stamps have extra slits that are intended to destroy the stamps when you try a manner that requires peeling the self-adhesives off.

Since Royal Mail continues to issue normal adhesive labels with water soluble gum and self-adhesive labels with gum that is not water soluble, that line does not exist.

The inks, normally, do not pose a problem, unless you use chemicals. If you soak too long and / or in too warm water, you may wash out any phosphor bars.

thanks very much, NSK.

Tony